Scotland One Win Away From Their First World Cup Since 1998
Scotland’s dream of reaching their first men’s World Cup finals in nearly three decades remains alive after a dramatic night of football ended in their favour. Despite falling 3-0 behind to Greece, Denmark’s unexpected draw with Belarus kept Scotland’s qualification hopes intact.
For more than an hour, Scotland appeared to be heading toward a heavy defeat. Goals from Tasos Bakasetas, Konstantinos Karetsas and Christos Tzolis punished sloppy mistakes and pushed Scotland toward the dreaded play-offs. Meanwhile, Denmark were cruising with a lead over Belarus in Copenhagen.
But football loves chaos—and this night delivered plenty of it.
“Everything changed in a matter of minutes, and suddenly the impossible felt within reach.”
In the 65th minute, Belarus stunned Denmark by equalising, and almost simultaneously, young Ben Gannon-Doak drilled home his first Scotland goal to make it 3-1. Moments later, Belarus went ahead, sending shockwaves to Piraeus. As word filtered through the stadium, Ryan Christie headed in Scotland’s second to set up a frantic final stretch.
Despite hitting the bar, blowing multiple chances and relying heavily on luck, Scotland kept pushing. Greece’s Bakasetas was sent off late on, giving Steve Clarke’s team even more momentum. Substitute George Hirst came close to leveling, but the Scots were ultimately forced to depend on Belarus holding on against the group leaders.
Belarus delivered. And now Scotland are just one victory away from ending their 27-year World Cup absence.
A Night of Chaos: What Went Wrong and What Went Right
The opening half was nothing short of disastrous for Scotland’s defence. John Souttar misjudged a long goal-kick, allowing Vangelis Pavlidis to test Craig Gordon. The goalkeeper saved brilliantly, but Bakasetas punished the rebound. Denmark’s early goal against Belarus only made things worse.
For 40 minutes, Scotland looked lost. Yet, moments of inspiration flickered. Scott McTominay rattled the crossbar with a thunderous long-range effort. Che Adams then missed a point-blank header—one so glaring that it drew comparisons to Chris Iwelumo’s historic miss against Norway.
“It felt like one of those nights when nothing was going to fall Scotland’s way.”
Gannon-Doak wasted another golden chance before halftime, leaving many fearing the worst. Clarke, who previously spoke about unleashing “anger” in the dressing room, likely had strong words again.
The second half started brighter but was quickly dented when 17-year-old wonderkid Karetsas curled in a superb goal. Tzolis’ third seemed to seal Scotland’s fate until their spirited comeback began.
Despite numerous opportunities to equalise, the decisive score never came. Still, thanks to Belarus’ resilience, Scotland’s fate remains in their own hands.
What They Said
Steve Clarke:
“This group of players are a credit to themselves and their country. They didn’t give up. We got a lucky break with Denmark’s result, and now it’s all to play for on Tuesday.”
Andy Robertson:
“We can’t concede three goals like that. But we created eight or nine big chances. People wrote us off, yet here we are—winner takes all on Tuesday.”
Match Stats Highlights
- Ben Gannon-Doak (20y, 4d) becomes Scotland’s youngest scorer since 2010.
- Ryan Christie scores in consecutive matches for the first time since 2020.
- Craig Gordon made seven saves, his highest since 2022.
- Scotland fielded their oldest World Cup qualifying XI on record (average age 29y 280d).
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